PLANTS. 341 



' wn Imperial (Fritilaria jmperialis). flowers 



^ srianth campanulate ; stem thick, high, lower 



S P* s- *i with the long, narrow leaves, bearing at the 



.e of several large red and yellow flowers, 



pecu lar y p t^^ f orme d by the pairs of small, narrow 



base of each pedicel. This well known 



he gardens has an unpleasant odor, and 

 varieties of this ' 



. T narcotic poison. 



and Cardamum. tne Bfeetc, . T, . , n. j 



Boot or bulb is composed 

 and known by the name of Paratuo^ fc 



J a common m^ 



Arrow Root (Maranta arundmaceje) ^ . ~;/-iike ; 



branches forked ; leaves lanceolate ; flowers paniculate, 

 standing in sixes. Cultivated largely in South America. 

 Root about three inches long, white, and of the thickness 

 of a man's thumb, affords the well known arrow-root 

 starch, so often employed as pleasant and nutritive diet 

 for invalids and weak children. It is, however, fre- 

 quently adulterated with starch, which deception may 

 easily be detected in the boiling, the starch making it 

 paste-like, but when pure it is more fluid and transpar- 

 ent. Proportion of arrow-root flour to water or milk, 

 1-80. 



SIXTY-FIFTH FAMILY. LILIACE^. LILYWORTS. 

 (Class 3, L.) 



The Sword Lily (Iris florentina). Leaves sword, or 

 rather, sickle-shaped (falcate) ; flowers white, without 

 foot-stalks, bearded yellow ; flowers sometimes bluish ; 

 the root, hard, knobbed, and limbed, has a pleasant odor, 

 resembling that of violets, known as orris-root, and often 

 given to children in teething to bite on. Cultivated in 

 gardens in middle Europe, but found growing wild in 

 Italy. A relative species and neither so rare or valu- 

 able, which has violet flowers, is often met with farther 

 north. 2. 



